glynjackson Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 So excited to have gotten my Wifi Pineapple today! Looking forward to writing some infusions. Well made kit. The only downside was with the battery kit and shipping. The pineapple juice charger came with a US adapter. This means I have to charge the battery with the adapter from the wifi pineapple itself. This is ok but does not allow me to use the pineapple when the battery is on charge :( In regards to shipping, nothing to do with Hak5, to something to beware of. I was fully aware that UPS would charge VAT and Tax but was shocked that UPS also charge what they call "U.S.Customs Brokerage Service Fees" on top of any import fees and tax you have to pay. What made me mad is that the UPS driver demanded that I pay at the door otherwise he would not release the item. I had to write a cheque there and then. In total I ended up paying an extra £48 (around $80) on top of the delivery charge of $48 just to get my package. It has cost over $280 total (including the Pineapple for my order). Just something to beware of with UPS when shipping to the EU. I should have paid more to ship with FedEx as Hak5 do offer this alternative. Something I will do with future orders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooper Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 In my experience, shipping an Odroid in from Korea via FedEx, it's more of the same except that rather than forcing you to pay then and there they send you an invoice afterwards. I personally consider those fees pure extortion - they charge you a percentage of the price specified for the package at shipping time (so if the hakshop sent it to you and specified it as having a list price of $5, you'd be taxed a percentage of $5, regardless of the contents, though the hakshop would, in doing this, probably violate a handful of laws) and there is NO relation between the work they have to do and the height of the fee. It's effectively a stamp duty and should be charged as such: $5 for the drone time to stamp it. Maybe another 5 cents in ink. This is another reason why shipping shit in from China is so popular and why when communicating with the sellers on alibaba and dx and such they address you as 'friend'. It means that they can ship stuff to you as a gift, outright lie about the price of what's in the package and you won't have to pay the duties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebkinne Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Please do not charge your pineapple juice with the pineapple psu! It doesn't support the required charging logic and will break your battery. We do not offer the pineapple juice with an international adapter, however you can use a simple converter, as the charger can handle international voltages. The UPS fees are standard, and are not great, I agree.. Best regards, Sebkinne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glynjackson Posted August 29, 2014 Author Share Posted August 29, 2014 @Sebkinne oops. Well now I know. I use a convertor from now on. Out of curiosity what do you mean by "The required charging logic"? In regards to the UPS, yes I know, this is completely out of Hak5 control, just my rant for the day. @Cooper. My experience via China Post is slow but they never seem to charge extra over import tax. Hak5 should offer USPS, ok it's slow, but there is no charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebkinne Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 @Sebkinne oops. Well now I know. I use a convertor from now on. Out of curiosity what do you mean by "The required charging logic"? In regards to the UPS, yes I know, this is completely out of Hak5 control, just my rant for the day. Basically, the batteries require multi stage charging (batteries sometimes require different charge phases such as trickle charging). That logic isn't present in normal chargers, so it important to use the correct charger. Best regards, Sebkinne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooper Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Hak5 should offer USPS, ok it's slow, but there is no charge. I could be wrong here, but I believe they in fact DO offer that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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